Comments on: “Lean In” http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/10/31/lean-in/ ...For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:15:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: BookChook http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/10/31/lean-in/comment-page-1/#comment-6787 BookChook Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:05:20 +0000 http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=5999#comment-6787 My first and frivolous response would be to ban "leaning in"! But if your kids are comfortable with drama, roleplay in particular, I would get them to improvise situations in pairs, with one partner leaning in and one leaning out, and just explore the whole concept. Try again when the partners try to persuade each other to do something. Next time, have the students suggest situations and characters for the pairs as in where the roleplay can occur and between whom eg a bikie and a fish salesman at the circus, and have the kids again use leaning in and leaning out, only this time, make it flexible, and only one can lean in or out at a time ie as soon as one changes, so must the other, while they continue talking or persuading. What will the educational outcome be? Well, it might not be immediate, but they will have more understanding of leaning in to persuade, and they will remember the concept. Whether they will choose to apply it, I have no way of knowing. But they might have fun, and they will practise their English! My first and frivolous response would be to ban “leaning in”!

But if your kids are comfortable with drama, roleplay in particular, I would get them to improvise situations in pairs, with one partner leaning in and one leaning out, and just explore the whole concept. Try again when the partners try to persuade each other to do something. Next time, have the students suggest situations and characters for the pairs as in where the roleplay can occur and between whom eg a bikie and a fish salesman at the circus, and have the kids again use leaning in and leaning out, only this time, make it flexible, and only one can lean in or out at a time ie as soon as one changes, so must the other, while they continue talking or persuading.

What will the educational outcome be? Well, it might not be immediate, but they will have more understanding of leaning in to persuade, and they will remember the concept. Whether they will choose to apply it, I have no way of knowing. But they might have fun, and they will practise their English!

]]> By: Peter Blomert http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/10/31/lean-in/comment-page-1/#comment-6775 Peter Blomert Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:41:23 +0000 http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/?p=5999#comment-6775 Well, we do a lot of cooperative learning in our classes over here in Germany, and with about 30 students per class there is another reason for "leaning in": we call it the "12 inch voice". With 15 students speaking at the same time and with the classrooms we have there has to be a strict rule concerning the overall noise and the volume of the speaking. So we train the "12 inch voice", a speaking volume which makes the words audible from a distance only up to 12 inch. That way the "leaning in" is sort of a byproduct of this rule. In addition to this rule we train our students listening-skills, how to listen actively, e.g. with t-charts describing what it looks like and what it sounds like ... Our experience is always the same as yours: Leaning in and speaking with low volume results in better concentration of the students and a more intense connection between the partners of the pairs (or squares). The overall quality of the cooperation is rising with the implementation of these rules. (Sorry for my poor English) Well, we do a lot of cooperative learning in our classes over here in Germany, and with about 30 students per class there is another reason for “leaning in”: we call it the “12 inch voice”. With 15 students speaking at the same time and with the classrooms we have there has to be a strict rule concerning the overall noise and the volume of the speaking. So we train the “12 inch voice”, a speaking volume which makes the words audible from a distance only up to 12 inch. That way the “leaning in” is sort of a byproduct of this rule.
In addition to this rule we train our students listening-skills, how to listen actively, e.g. with t-charts describing what it looks like and what it sounds like …
Our experience is always the same as yours: Leaning in and speaking with low volume results in better concentration of the students and a more intense connection between the partners of the pairs (or squares). The overall quality of the cooperation is rising with the implementation of these rules.
(Sorry for my poor English)

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